Moments
after running back Trent Richardson, quarterback Brandon Weeden and the
Browns' other rookies took the field under a cloudless sky to open a
three-day minicamp, Shurmur announced that massive defensive tackle Phil
Taylor would need surgery to repair a torn chest muscle and could miss
the upcoming season.

"It was just one of those things that happens," Shurmur said Friday. "It's unfortunate."

And more bad luck for the Browns, who have had more than their share in recent years.

Taylor
tore his left pectoral muscle while doing bench presses in the weight
room on Thursday. His injury is potentially devastating injury for a
Cleveland defense that ranked 30th in the league against the run last
season.

Shurmur said Taylor will have surgery next week, when the
team will have a better sense of how long they'll be without the
6-foot-3, 335-pounder.

With the opener against Philadelphia four months away, Shurmur didn't want to rule Taylor out for the season.

"It's
too early to speculate," he said. "Typically with these surgeries, the
rehab is months so I don't want to say exactly. I don't want to cancel
him out for the year, no."

Typically, torn pectoral muscles take
at least sixth months to heal. Browns inside linebacker D'Qwell Jackson
missed most of two seasons after tearing his pectoral muscle on both
sides. Jackson had two surgeries but bounced back and led Cleveland in
tackles last season.

Taylor, the No. 21 overall pick last year,
started all 16 games as a rookie. He finished with 59 tackles, four
sacks and improved Cleveland's defensive front. The Browns selected
Cincinnati defensive tackle John Hughes (third round) and Boise State's
Billy Winn (sixth round) in the draft and may have enough depth to get
by in the short term without him. But Taylor was viewed as one of the
team's core players and his loss is just another obstacle for a
franchise that has had just two winning seasons in the past 13 years.

Taylor
was inside the team's training facility but wasn't available for
comment. On his Twitter page, he wrote: "Just a bump in the road. Got
(to) work hard and come back (hash)Strong."

Shurmur tried to put a positive spin on the injury.

"It
provides opportunity for other guys to fill in," he said. "We never
want to lose a player. Unfortunately, at this point, Phil has to deal
with what professional athletes have to deal with sometime and that's
going through a surgery, going through a rehab and then coming back
stronger than ever. His mood is good, he understands it and we'll get
him fixed up and get him back."

The injury cast some darkness over a day the Browns hope is the beginning of a new era.

Richardson and Weeden, the club's two first-round picks and potential stars, came as advertised in their first workouts as pros.

Wearing
No. 33, and with his tinted dreadlocks tumbling out from under his new
orange helmet, Richardson showed the quickness, strength and lateral
moves that made him an All-American at Alabama. Following the morning
workout, Richardson, whom the Browns traded up to select at No. 3
overall, said he aspires for greatness.

His college career is over. It's time for a new challenge.

"I
am going to hold my expectations high, real high, very high," he said.
"The expectations that they have for me now, I don't think it is high
enough for me and I am going to go higher and I am going to go to the
extreme. You never set your expectations at a limit and that is just me
being a man and being a competitor and an athlete.

"You should
always have your expectations high. Being the third pick in the first
round, having all of the success at Alabama, for me from this point on I
am not going to speak much about what I did at Alabama because that is
old. I did that at Alabama. I am trying to make a name for myself in the
NFL now."

It was at his pro workout day at Alabama in March when
Richardson literally bowled over the Browns with his skills. During a
blocking drill, he flattened Browns running back coach Gary Brown, who
reminded the rookie back about the incident during Friday's afternoon
practice.

Weeden put his big arm on display with several passes, slinging tight spirals all over the field.

"He
has a strong arm," Richardson said. "I was about three yards away from
him and he threw it hard and I had to put my hands up real fast. I can
see why he played baseball."

A former minor league pitcher in the
New York Yankees' organization, Weeden seemed comfortable during both
workouts but had a few fumbles on snaps from center. He lined up almost
exclusively in the shotgun last season at Oklahoma State, but said he
doesn't mind being closer to the line of scrimmage.

"I'll be
honest, I like being under center more because I can see more of what's
going on, and you get the ball immediately," he said. "If I had to pick
one of the two — not that I don't like being in the shotgun — but I like
being under center."

Weeden will be under the microscope in the months ahead.

Although
it's assumed he will start this season, the Browns want him to earn the
job. Weeden's eager to compete with Colt McCoy and Seneca Wallace for
the starting job, and he intends to win it.

"That's the approach
we are all going to take," he said. "I think all of us who are here
today plan on having a job. Colt's been in the system for two years so
he understands the offense, I am going to ask him questions. We are
going to learn it together and compete. That's what it's all about. I
think he would answer the same way.

"We are going to do whatever
we can to help this team win games, plain and simple, whether it's me or
him. Obviously, I hope I am the guy and I am going to do everything in
my power to be that guy, but you have to take it one step at a time."

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